Bomber Bosley banks five, leads Lake Murray finals

Hometown fave Gagliardi hanging tight in second

COLUMBIA, S.C. – It was cold out on Lake Murray Friday, and the bass bite did cool off slightly with the weather. But that didn’t stop several pros from catching some more Murray mega-bass, including Brennan Bosley, who led the first half of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Chevy Open final round with a five-bass limit weighing 20 pounds, 15 ounces.

“I’m feeling pretty confident about what I’m doing, but this lake is so awesome that somebody could zero on the first day and still win the tournament,” said Bosley, a fourth-year pro from Benton, Ark. “Somebody could catch 40 pounds here, seriously.”

Bosley would know. He caught the heaviest stringer on day two with a monster 26-pound, 5-ounce limit that launched him into the finals with the biggest comeback of the week.

Catching the best stringer for the second day in a row Friday, Bosley seems to be trending in the right direction as the week unfolds. However, he and other pros testified to a more difficult day on the water than they had the first two days.

“It was a really tough day, a really slow day,” Bosley said. “I just had five bites. I caught one at about 9:30, and then I had nothing until about noon.”

Still, the few bass he caught later in the day would be decent ones. His kicker fish weighed in at around 7 pounds, and he had another one of similar size.

The wind changed directions Friday, coming in more from the south than the north as in previous days. That had an effect on Bosley, who stayed with the same crankbait pattern he has been working all week. But it obviously didn’t hurt his fishing too badly as he worked along the banks of Lake Murray Friday.

“The wind did switch, but it was still hitting my areas in the right way so that fish would be on them,” said Bosley, who has been catching fish mainly on a Bomber Deep Flat A with 10-pound fluorocarbon line. “Every bite I get is a reaction bite. The bait runs about 7 feet deep, bumps the top of a rock in 8 or 9 feet, and I get a strike.”

Bosley started slowly on day one, where he mustered just over 11 pounds, thanks to some poor execution and lost big bass. But he’s righted the ship, executed well the last two days and seems to be rolling hard into the final day.

“I feel good about my odds,” he said. “I’ll just try not to let nerves get in the way, go out and go fishing.”

Gagliardi loses big one, still hangs onto second

Coming in second for the third day in a row was hometown favorite Anthony Gagliardi of Prosperity, S.C. He caught a limit weighing 19 pounds even and positioned himself, along with Bosley, to make this pretty much a two-horse race heading into Saturday.

“I had a good day,” Gagliardi said. “I pretty much went with the same game plan, fishing deep, but today I did have three good bites out of deep brush piles, and that hasn’t really been a big thing for me at this tournament.”

Gagliardi has been catching fish in deep water, beyond 30 feet, focusing on rock piles with a black-and-black, 1/2-ounce All-Terrain jig. He caught more numbers today than he did yesterday, but he also had trouble landing anything with size until later in the day.

Plus, he said, he had a big difference-maker get away from him.

“I had an opportunity to land a big one that probably would have put some distance between me and second place,” he said.

Nevertheless, Gagliardi’s still very much in the hunt on his home water, and that’s right where he wants to be.

“I’d kind of like to take after (2005 FLW Championship winner) George Cochran (who won on his home water, Lake Hamilton),” he said. “He did away with the idea of the `local jinx.'”

Carroll lands another 9, takes third

If he had caught a limit, this one might have been a runaway win for Tim Carroll. As it was, the pro from Owasso, Okla., who led the opening round caught just three bass Friday and claimed the third pro spot with 14 pounds, 11 ounces.

However, his kicker fish was yet another monster: 9 pounds, 5 ounces.

“I did need two more, but I’m excited about this lake,” said Carroll, who caught his big one on a jig. “It’s just unbelievable. This is, like, my fifth fish, including practice, that weighed over 9 pounds. I even had one over 11 pounds, I think, in practice. It’s hard to judge when they get that big. I’ve caught every one of them in a different area. I’m just running a pattern.”

Wolak fourth

David Wolak of Warrior Run, Pa., took the fourth position for the pros with a limit weight of 12 pounds, 12 ounces.

While his limit was relatively small, he has high hopes for another big day tomorrow.

“To tell you the truth, I expected (the overall weights) to be a lot less today,” he said. “But the thing with this lake is that weights can change dramatically from one day to the next. So nobody’s really out of it.”

Pirch in fifth

Clifford Pirch of Payson, Ariz., rounded out the top five pros with a four-bass weight of 10 pounds, 2 ounces.

“I had four bass bites, and I think I caught all of them. All my other bites were probably pickerel,” he said. “I had a good day; I just couldn’t get them going. But I’ve seen some huge bags come in and guys come back from a long ways, so I can do it.”

Rest of the best

Rounding out the top 10 pros heading into Saturday’s final-round action at Lake Murray:

6th: Jeremiah Kindy, Benton, Ark., four bass, 8-13

7th: David Smith, Del City, Okla., five bass, 8-11

8th: Katsutoshi Furusawa, Tokyo, Japan, three bass, 6-3

9th: Terry Segraves, Kissimmee, Fla., one bass, 3-12

10th: Matt Herren, Trussville, Ala., two bass, 2-5

Final round Saturday

Day four of the Wal-Mart FLW Tour Chevy Open at Lake Murray begins as the final-round field of 10 boats takes off from Jakes Landing in Lexington, S.C., at 7 a.m. Eastern time Saturday. Friday’s weights carry over to Saturday, and the $200,000 Pro Division winner will be determined by two-day combined weight.